The New Year’s Eve party in Edinburgh is the largest in all of Europe. Hogmanay, as New Year’s Eve is called in Scotland, begins on December 31st in Edinburgh. The festivities begin with a torchlight procession of more than 12,000 people. The procession begins at Edinburgh’s historic Old Town, passes by the Mound, Princess Street and Waterloo Place to conclude at Carlton Hill. This is a traditional common ground in the city and is one of the main hills right in the centre of the city. It has an Athenian acropolis accentuating the skyline. Along with the people in the procession all carrying torches, there are pipe and drum bands well-known throughout Scotland. The members of the band are dressed in traditional Highland clothing as well as contemporary styles. This is called the warmer-upper for the finale on New Year’s Eve.
December 31st offers a day of family entertainment with performers from all over the world. At night there is a Ceilidh as well as street dancing and music that goes on into the wee hours of the morning. The Concert in the Gardens, at Edinburgh Castle, attracts thousands of people who want to welcome in the New Year at the largest party ever. There are giant TV screens so people on the street can see the performance and when the screens go off at 10 PM, the celebrations begin in earnest which lasts through the night until the morning of the January 1st or, in many cases, January 2nd. It is possible that more than 100,000 people attend this event. The huge array of fireworks from the battlements of the castle announces the end of the Old Year and the beginning of the new. As in all other parts of the world, the fireworks are accompanied by the rousing sound of "Auld Lang Syne" a truly Scottish song.
